Monday, November 14, 2016

STOCKHOLM SALUTUE TO INTERNATIONAL ANTI-FASCIST DAY

Stockholm -- Members of Tupilak(Nordic rainbow culture workers),ILGCN(rainbow culture international) and Bears International and others saluted the victims of fascism and neo-facism at a November 9th ceremony in the Swedish capital marking Kristallnacht -- the Ínternational Day against Fascism -- with presentations, discussions, poetry, art and photography.

Swedish Tupilak member, Tomas Åberg read his moving poem entitled "Kristalnacht" and other poems, and artist Bo Bergstrand read the poem of famous Swedish lesbian poet, Karin Boje, "Nattjar" -- about a darkly feathered bird searching in the night for the blue dawn's light -- a poem read in the Auschwitz museum during the historic, first-ever LGBT official visit to the Nazi death camp in Poland.

The ILGCN Information Secretariat's Bill Schiller read a statement honoring the Amsterdam-based human right group, "United," for inspiring November 9 events all over the world, stating that the anniversary not only signaled the smashing of Jewish shop windows in Germany in 1938 but also launching the mass deportation of Jews, Roma, dissidents, LGBT people and others to Nazi concentration camps all over Europe.

The statment also paid tribute to Irishman Roger Casement, hung by the British exactly 100 years ago after his "Black Diaries" of his same-sex contacts were spread by a homophobic press destroying his appeal for clemency, Vadim Kozin -- homosexual Russian singer arrested by the KGB in 1945 and sent to Siberia, gay Belarus culture worker Misha murded by a homophobic hooligan in Minsk as well as Faroes activist Rasmus Rasmussen and Hungarian gay activist, Milan Rozsa-- both driven to despair into taking their own lives.

November 9 anti-fascist exhibition (photo by Joakim of Sweden)

November 9 participants, Stockholm (photo by Joakihm of Sweden)

Discussion of Evaluation of the Nordic Rainbow Month

Some discussion took focused on the planned evaluation sessions this December 10-13 of the 1st Nordic Rainbow History & Art Month -- October 2016 which took place in the northern Swedish city of Umeå, Stockholm and the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

The Stockholm session included presentations about Nazi and neo Nazi persecution of LGBT people presented by Colin de la Motte-Sherman of Berlin, the ILGCN History Secretariat. Plans were also discussed about next year's Nordic History Month with hopes of including more Nordic cities.